FRANCHISE LAW
Franchise Law Articles
Plain-English analysis of FDD reviews, franchise agreements, exit strategy, and ongoing counsel for franchisees and franchisors.
480 articles
Reading the FDD After a Layoff: What Matters
If you’re funding a franchise with savings or a severance check after a layoff, the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is the most important thing …
Resolving Franchisor-Franchisee Legal Disputes
Handle a franchisor-franchisee legal dispute by going to the franchise agreement first — it almost always dictates how the dispute must be resolved, including …
Resources to Support Your Franchise System
Supporting a franchise system effectively takes infrastructure in six areas: field support people, training, technology, marketing, capital, and the legal …
Rise and Fall of Mega Franchises: Legal Lessons
Even huge, famous franchise systems collapse — and when they do, the franchisees usually saw warning signs that were sitting in the disclosure documents all …
Sbarro's Decline: Lessons From Mall Franchising
Sbarro’s two bankruptcies are a textbook lesson in channel concentration risk — the danger of building a franchise on a single location type whose …
Setting Franchise Fees and Royalties: A Franchisor Guide
The right franchise fee and royalty structure rests on a single principle: the initial fee should recover what it actually costs you to recruit, train, and open …
Setting Franchise Royalty Rates: A Franchisor's Guide
A royalty rate works when it is low enough to attract and keep profitable franchisees, yet high enough to fund the support that makes the system worth joining. …
Structure a Franchise Agreement to Support Growth
A franchise agreement supports growth when each core clause does two jobs at once: it protects the brand and gives a competent franchisee room to expand. The …
Success Metrics to Track in a Franchise Business Model
The success metrics that matter most for a franchise business model are system-level health indicators — unit economics, franchisee validation, closure and …
Supplier Clauses in a Franchise Agreement
The safest way to control sourcing in a franchise agreement is to require franchisees to meet your specifications and buy from suppliers you approve — not to …
Technology for Franchise Operations & Communication
Use technology in a franchise system to standardize operations and centralize communication — a shared point-of-sale and reporting stack gives the franchisor …
The Role of a Franchise Attorney in Your Agreement
A franchise attorney’s job is to tell you, in plain English, where this specific deal departs from the norm — and to negotiate the handful of terms that …
Training Provisions in a Franchise Agreement
A franchise agreement’s training clause should answer five questions: what training you provide, who must attend, how long it runs, who pays for it, and …
Transparency When Marketing Your Franchise
Transparency when marketing your franchise is not just a trust-building strategy — it is a legal requirement built into the FTC Franchise Rule (16 C.F.R. Part …
Updating a Franchise Agreement With Franchisee Feedback
Franchisee feedback should shape your next franchise agreement, but you cannot simply rewrite the deal your existing franchisees already signed. A signed …
Updating Your Franchise Agreement as Markets Change
Markets move faster than contracts, so the practical way to keep up with changing consumer preferences is to change what the operations manual controls, not the …
Updating Your Franchise Agreement as the Brand Evolves
As a franchisor, you can roll out most brand changes through the operations manual and brand standards, but changing the contract terms in existing agreements …
Updating Your Franchise Agreement for Technology
Update your franchise agreement for technology by addressing four things directly: who owns customer data, how online and delivery sales affect territory, what …
Using Data and Analytics to Grow a Franchise
A franchisor uses data and analytics to grow by turning the numbers every unit already generates — sales, customer behavior, operations, and marketing response …
Using Your Franchise Agreement to Attract Franchisees
Your franchise agreement is a recruiting tool — but a legal one, not a brochure. The terms you offer prospects, and the way you present them, are governed by …
